Do I ship it?

Games › RTS › RTS + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Idler RTS?

RTS + Idler

Of 31 developers who shipped an Idler RTS in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 36 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×123 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 36 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 36 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RTS + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.5k → $150 → $839 → $2.6k → $1.4k (still earning) → $178 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RTS + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 25% $7.8k (exactly $7,759)
Top 5% $184k (exactly $183,938)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 75
Announced 36
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $4.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 80% on the market, supply 145% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.

RTS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
RTS, Idler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, PvE
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 3,853 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $7.7k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomeFair12 devs · median $64k · 13 announced
  2. + Outbreak SimFair16 devs · median $2.6k · 14 announced
  3. + HorrorFair20 devs · median $2.4k · 27 announced
  4. + NavalFair15 devs · median $2.4k · 21 announced
  5. + TabletopFair25 devs · median $1.9k · 33 announced
  6. + SportsLong shot19 devs · median $861 · 9 announced
  7. + PuzzleLong shot48 devs · median $479 · 40 announced
  8. + World War IIPoor odds23 devs · median $105k · 38 announced
  9. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds28 devs · median $64k · 41 announced
  10. + Open WorldPoor odds45 devs · median $35k · 100 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds87 devs · median $31k · 159 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds108 devs · median $30k · 180 announced

All 149 pairs on the RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim 2025 · $2.2M Fly Corp 2023 · $1.4M Microcosmum: survival of cells 2015 · $268k miniBONG 2023 · $264k Age of Clicks 2026 · EA · $184k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim $24.90 2,938 77% 88k $2.2M (exactly $2,194,686) Rockbee Team
Fly Corp older $14.99 3,112 85% 93k $1.4M (exactly $1,399,466) KishMish Games
Microcosmum: survival of cells older $7.99 1,117 80% 34k $268k (exactly $267,745) Satur Entertainment
miniBONG older $9.99 881 79% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) Game Star
Age of Clicks · EA $12.99 472 65% 14k $184k (exactly $183,938) David Ius
Laptop Tycoon older $7.99 400 74% 12k $96k (exactly $95,880) Roastery Games
XiuzhenWorld2 $12.99 134 67% 4.0k $52k (exactly $52,220) Noforgetit
Lazy Galaxy 2 older $7.99 167 77% 5.0k $40k (exactly $40,030) Coldwild Games
中国战疫 older $16.99 64 76% 1.9k $33k (exactly $32,621) 不吃蛋黄
Lazy Galaxy older $4.99 188 78% 5.6k $28k (exactly $28,144) Coldwild Games, Vladimir Slav, Elena Na… (Coldwild Games, Vladimir Slav, Elena Nazarenko)
The First Million $6.99 101 75% 3.0k $21k (exactly $21,180) Sonderland
Stardust Exile $14.99 44 70% 1.3k $20k (exactly $19,787) Apseren
Chaos Entropy $11.00 48 89% 1.4k $16k (exactly $15,840) MILLIDIA
Stellar outpost commander $8.99 30 83% 900 $8.1k (exactly $8,091) Kinderril
Idle Together $6.99 37 75% 1.1k $7.8k (exactly $7,759) Eragone
Elemental Magic Wars $7.99 19 84% 570 $4.6k (exactly $4,554) FWGames
Idle Streaming Bonanza $4.99 30 93% 900 $4.5k (exactly $4,491) Anarky Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.